Just a Couple of Kids
by MollyWeasleyIsOurQueen
Summary: Living at a snobby boarding school can be difficult, but will these two handle it? Also contains bits of Riku/Sora and Axel/Roxas.
1. Chapter 1

The bell rings, loud and long, so it echoes throughout the campus. I turn and look at my lover, Riku, and see him with his usual look of distraction, as if something is preoccupying him. I feel that sense of guilt, as if I should be as far away from him as I possibly can be. I can feel my face turning red. What exactly is it about me that he won't love anymore? I sigh and stand up. Brushing off my shirt from the crumbs of my sandwich, I start to walk away from my ever so confusing lover. Suddenly, he realizes what I'm doing and stands up quickly, asking, "Where are you going?"

I pause for a moment. Turning, I say, "Art. That's our next class, isn't it?"

Riku's face is a mixture of fear, anger, and confusion. "Sora, what has been with you lately? You've been like this for a while now."

My temper flared. "Oh, so now I'M the one that's acting weird? We never talk like we used to anymore, Riku. You never look at me like you used to. We had a connection that isn't there now. Why in the world would you expect me to act like I used to if we don't do any of the things we used to do?"

Riku looked at him, as if he was looking for something that he knew wasn't going to be there. The sadness in his eyes was magnified to something I had never seen before. My mood immediately changed. Did I do something to hurt him? What did I do?

He didn't say anything, which made my face flush a little. It then led me to say, "Well, we really should get to art. We don't want to be late again."

With that, Riku and I walked next to each other up to the art building. Art always has been one of my favorite classes. Whenever I'm stressed or feeling like crap, I just go down to the art room and let myself in. The teacher was really cool, and he never minded when I did so. Our professor's name was Zexion, and he was that one hip teacher every school has. He dresses only in the latest fashions, has only the latest technology, and was up with what was cool and what wasn't. I always liked talking to him because he knew what I was going through. Zexion was our only bisexual teacher, so I could go to him with guy problems. He would help me get through them just like any of my other friends, except he wasn't weirded out by the fact they were about guys.

We entered the art building and climbed the stairs to our advanced art class, which was on the second floor. The silence between Riku and I was killing me. I couldn't just leave it at that; I had to say something.

"Riku, you've got to understand how I felt back there. You know that what I said is true. But I still love you. Riku, I've loved you since the day I met you. Just because it's slightly different now, doesn't mean I don't. I love you with all my heart; you know that, right?"

Riku just looked at me coldly and kept on climbing. Trust me, I felt awful for what I did. I didn't want him feeling this way. What was I supposed to do to keep him happy? We arrived at the art room door, which was kind of stuck back in a corner of the second floor hallway. I opened the door and walked in. On my right, there was storage that had been creatively painted by the other students with sinks underneath them. On the left was an elongation of the room with long tables and a few scattered chairs. Not very many people were in our class because it was so advanced, so we got a lot of alone time with our art.

I sat down towards the window as I usually do, allowing myself to daze while I think about topics to draw or paint; you know, the usual art student at a snobby boarding school. Riku sat down somewhere with his other friends. He kept his stony look the entire hour and a half we were in there. I heard someone else talking behind me, and I perked my ears up to listen. I saw Demyx sitting behind me with Roxas, talking very animatedly to him, out of the corner of my eye. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't help but tuning in to their conversation.

"Just watch him move, Roxas. He's so graceful." There was a pause for a moment, then I heard Demyx chuckle to himself. A bit quieter, he continued, "I know where else he could be graceful, and it includes me."

"Demyx!" Roxas said, giggling and hitting him on the arm. Demyx adjusted his tie and fluffed his hair when he saw Zexion walking towards him. "Watch and learn," Demyx said slyly when Zexion walked up to him.

"How far have you gotten on your work, Demyx?"

"Hey Zexion, I'm starting my own wrestling team. Wanna join?" Demyx wiggled his eyebrows. When Zexion gave him a look of destruction, Demyx continued, "I can help you practice if you want."

"Demyx, get back to work." Zexion started to walk away, then leaned down and whispered in Demyx's ear, "You know, when I practice, I practice _hard._"

Demyx's face proceeded to turn fire-engine red and a drop of blood dripped from his nostril. Roxas laughed at him so hard, tears dripped from his eyes and he almost rolled off his chair. I looked over and chuckled in spite of everything that had happened earlier. I continued to work on our latest project, which was supposed to express our feelings about something that had made us sad or prevented our happiness, anyways. Mine had a splash of bunches of different colors, most of the colors being dark or semi-dark. It wasn't really anything in particular, just a big jumbled mess, basically the way I felt.

Demyx and Roxas started talking again, after Roxas had composed himself a little bit. They kept talking and laughing and working on their projects (or at least Roxas did). I moved over to sit with them, because I didn't have anyone else to talk to. As I walked over, I saw Riku. His project sort of resembled mine, just a jumbled up mixture of colors. They kind of seemed to resemble the colors I had on me, like my clothes and my hair. I went up to him and said, "You know, it looks really good."

Riku looked up at me, with that sad look back in his eyes, but with an undertone of the anger he showed earlier. I just looked at him sadly and kept walking over the Demyx and Roxas.

I got over to them and sat down. Roxas shot me a confused look that said, "Why aren't you sitting with Riku?" I shot him a look back that said, "Don't worry about it." I kept putting paint onto my canvas and didn't say anything.

Roxas pulled up his sleeves and got to work, but he must've remembered something, because his eyes got big, as he tried to pull them back down before anyone could see them. It must've not worked, because Demyx's eyes got rather large as he asked Roxas, "Hey, what was that?"

"What was what?" Roxas asked nervously.

"There was something on your arm, I know there was. What was it?"

"You… you must've seen some dirt or something, b-because there's nothing on my arm," Roxas stuttered, losing a bit of his cool.

"Then you won't mind showing me your arm?" Demyx questioned, a look of concern on his face.

"I…I…" Roxas stuttered, the color draining from his face.

Just then, another student in the class Axel walked over to Roxas. Everyone knew that Roxas and Axel were a couple; they'd been together for a while. You just didn't interfere with that. He seemed like a good enough person, but I wouldn't want to be around him on a regular basis. He kind of scared me, to be frank.

"Hey Roxas, what's up?"Axel said, sounding enthusiastic with an undertone of something that I couldn't quite pick out at the time. Axel walked over to Roxas, peering over his shoulder suspiciously. It looked as if he were looking for something on his art project. "So what did you make for your emotional project, Roxas?" Axel asked.

"Oh, well—" Roxas started as Axel took the project out of his hands and examined it. Axel's face grew exceedingly angrier as he kept looking at the project.

"What exactly is this?" Axel half screamed at Roxas. It made the entire art class go quiet and look over at what was going on. "Why did you draw this?"

"Axel," Roxas said in a quiet voice. "Please, not here." I got this large feeling of dread and anger in my stomach. I knew that I was dreading this because Axel was going to get angry, and that was never good, but why did I feel angry all of a sudden? …Protective, almost? I wasn't sure.

"Roxas, this is an unacceptable way to express yourself. Why did we even enroll in this art class in the first place?"

"Axel, you can't tell me that I'm expressing myself incorrectly. That's not possible. You know that as well as I do."

Axel's eyes burned with the flames he knew he could release at any moment. "Roxas, you can't tell me what I can and can't believe!" he screamed at Roxas.

Roxas stood up from his chair, tears running down his face and ran from the room. For some reason, I stood up and ran after him. I'm not sure why; my instinct just took over. I wasn't sure about what I was doing. All I knew was that I was going to help, no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2

Roxas

I stood up and ran out of the room, Axel's words still burning in my head. Of course, it's not like this hadn't happened before. I just couldn't take it anymore. He had screamed at me more times than I could remember.

I ran out of the door and down the hallway to the stairs, tears halfway blocking my eyesight. I just couldn't believe that he would bring that anger into the art class, with everyone else around; people I didn't want to have to experience that, especially Sora. I had seen him around campus, and we had talked occasionally, but never had a true conversation. Since the first day I met him, I knew that I liked him. Even when I was with Axel, I knew, for some reason, I wanted to be around him. I couldn't explain it, it was just a feeling I had.

I ran down the stairs and out of the art building. Axel never really tried to follow me whenever I ran off, so I had a pretty good chance of being by myself. I was about halfway across the grassy area that separated the art building from the main building that housed the gymnasium and auditorium when I heard the art building door re-slam behind me. I couldn't risk looking back, but I was curious as to why someone was following me. I just thought it was Axel, so I ran faster.

I got into the main building, tears still streaming down my face, and ran straight towards the gymnasium. Damn it, why couldn't I stop myself from crying? Stupid…

When you went into the main building, going left would take you to the gymnasium and going right would take you to the auditorium. Off of instinct, I took the left path. When you went into our gymnasium, there was a stage on the far side you saw, and on either side were two small side rooms that housed storage and steps to get up onto the stage. There was a sort of crawl space underneath the stairs that was made accidentally when they originally built the stairs. Whenever I was frustrated, sad, or needed some alone thinking time, this was where I went. I went through the door that closed off the space, into said space, and curled up my knees to my chest. With my head resting against the wall, I tried to quiet myself down, remembering the person who was following me earlier.

I heard footsteps outside the room and tried to stop my breathing all together, but it must not have worked, because the light flicked on and the door opened. There, much to my surprise, stood Sora, breathing hard from running. He knelt down next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. Looking me in the eyes, he said, "Roxas, why did you run?"

Through all my crying, I blushed a little bit and said, "Because I can't take it anymore."

Sora looked at me, his eyes sad and scared at the same time. He paused, then sat down across from me, crossing his arms, and not saying anything. Being myself and not understanding, I asked, "What are you doing?"

He replied, "Waiting for you to explain."

I let out a breath, calming myself down a bit. How exactly should I explain this to him? I don't want him to have to feel bad just because of me. I feel bad enough myself. I considered lying to him for a minute, but then decided that that wouldn't get anyone anywhere. Explaining this straightforward would be the most direct way to talk to Sora. Although it would be hard, I had to do it.

"Well," I started. I paused for a moment, then continued. "Axel can get pretty… aggressive sometimes. I guess I just lost control of my emotions then."

Once Sora decided that I was done talking, he reached out for my hand. I got nervous. I pulled back from him and stuttered, "Wh-what are you d-doing?"

Sora didn't explain himself as he grabbed my hand. He took hold of my sleeve and pulled it up so my arm was exposed. There were cuts and bruises all over my arm. "How do you explain these?" he asked me. I knew I was cornered into telling him. No matter what people told me, Sora was smarter than he looked.

"Axel made them," I said softly. Sora's eyes got big and he looked up at me with a bewildered look on his face. I was afraid he would react like this. In all those little pamphlets the guidance counselor hands out at the beginning of the school year, it always says the people you tell will react awkwardly, or at least when you're around.

Then, despite whatever it was that I expected, whether it be for him to get up and run out or say I'm sorry really awkwardly, he looked at me earnestly. He paused for a moment, then asked, "So, what're you going to do about it?"

For a moment, it was almost as if I didn't hear what he said. When it registered in my mind, I finally said, "Uh, I… I'm not sure."

Sora's face went soft for a moment. It looked almost as if he were going to laugh. I loved it whenever he looked like that. He looked so natural and in his element. You could always tell when he was comfortable with something; his face got that look. It always made me want to smile, and now was no exception. Despite my crying, I smiled.

He smiled when I did and said, "Now there's the Roxas I knew. You know that you're going to have to tell an adult, right?"

I blushed a little bit, then said, "The adults never really listen. They don't know what to do unless they're experienced with it. I can't exactly tell my mom." Roxas knew that his mom wouldn't listen to anything he said. He tried to warn her about the drugs, and look where it got her. Into an institution with a bunch of other wackos, that's where. Ever since my dad died, I felt like I'd never had anyone to turn to. It was true, too. My mom had never really liked me that much anyways. When I met Axel, he knew how I felt. Though his temper flared up a bit, he understood how, which was the whole reason we started dating in the first place. After a while, I realized he just couldn't control his temper. Not only that, he didn't really like me in the first place. That was what hurt the most.

"Well, you're going to have to let someone else know. But I know that you don't like this, and I'm here for you whatever you do," Sora said, snapping me out of my little flashback.

"I really appreciate that, Sora. I don't think anyone's ever said that," I told him, whilst blushing a little. I saw his face turn a light pink while he said, "Don't mention it."

I looked into his deep blue eyes and got lost. I didn't even realize what he was doing until I felt his arms around my neck and his head on my shoulder. He was hugging me. I wrapped my arms around his waist as best I could, considering we were still sitting down. I rested my head on the side of Sora's, putting my head on top of his spiky hair. Despite its looks, it was surprisingly soft.

He pulled away and looked at me. He smiled genuinely and almost laughed. That made me smile. No matter what, Sora always seemed to be happy. I liked that about him.

Suddenly, the bell rang, interrupting our secret meeting. Sora stood up and stuck out his hand. "Well, it's end of the day, and we should go meet our… others." I took his hand and stood. I unwrinkled my uniform shirt and brushed down my tie. I looked at him and smiled, then walked out of the small crawl space into the gym. We walked together out into the green area, where Axel was waiting. After Sora handed me over to Axel (unwillingly, of course), Riku came over and talked to Sora. They walked off together, leaving me with Axel. I had no idea how he would react, but I knew it wouldn't be good. Why couldn't I just go off with Sora?


	3. Chapter 3

Sora

I walked off with Riku, trying my best to be friendly. "So, what happened when I was gone?" Riku looked at me. His look was emotionless and distant. "Nothing much. I just kept doing what I was doing. What happened with Roxas?"

I paused for a moment. I knew that Roxas wouldn't want me telling someone what was going on with Axel. I certainly didn't want to hurt his feelings. I realized, after a moment of thinking, that that was the very last thing I wanted to do.

"He was upset about some stuff. I didn't know what he was doing, so I followed him. I didn't want him to hurt himself."

"Oh." Riku looked at the ground the rest of the walk back to my dorm. I felt nervous and unsure whenever I was with him. I knew that this wasn't how I was supposed to feel with a boyfriend. Whenever I read those fairytales, they always said that you would feel giddy and nervous, but nervous in a good way. Of all things, though, you would feel comfortable with the one you're with. For some reason, I suddenly flashed back to the way I felt when I was talking to Roxas. Comfortable. It felt like I could do anything with him and he wouldn't mind. But why was I feeling all of this now? It confused me.

I snapped out of my reverie when I heard Riku talking.

"So we're still on for the date tonight, I guess?"

"Oh, yeah!" I said enthusiastically. If I was still in this with Riku, I would still be with him with all of my efforts. "Out to dinner, right?"

"Yeah," he said, as if he were bored of it already, even though we hadn't done anything yet. It kind of made me sad as I walked up to my front door. Riku gave me a half-hearted hug and kept walking to his dorm, which was down the way a little bit. He didn't even say goodbye.

I frowned a little bit and walked into my dorm. It was one of the larger dorms, because my family could actually afford the schooling. At the left was my bed and desk. On the far wall was a big window that looked out on the courtyard. On the right were all of my posters and other random items. My room had a bathroom off the left side; the door was next to my desk. When you walked in, on the left were a private shower and toilet, and right in front of you were a large mirror and sink. Mine was one of the rare luxury dormitory rooms that good boarding schools had. I suppose I never really thought much about the money my family had; it was always there for me. Some might call me snobby, but I always thought of myself as a privileged person.

I threw my bag onto my bed and pulled apart the curtains from my window. I could see the colors changing on the leaves of the trees around the campus. It really was beautiful to see the works of nature around me. It soothed me a bit. I took off my tie and started to unbutton my shirt. Taking a shower was going to be the salvation of my day; well, talking to Roxas improved my day too.

After thinking of Roxas, I got a chill down my spine. Why has he been running through my head like this? I shake the thought from my head and wriggle out of my pants and underwear. By that time, I've gotten the water running hot and the bathroom's starting to fog up. I step into the shower and feel the warm water on my skin. Oddly enough, I think back to talking to Roxas. I feel a warm feeling, and not just because of the water. When he looked at me… it made me feel like I was important. Like I mattered to him. I meant something.

I can't shake this feeling as I step out of the shower and towel off. It seemed like there was something in his eyes that told me to want him… but no, that's absurd. Who ever thought of you wanting to be with a person just by looking at them? Well…

I tried to get rid of the warm fuzziness as I dried and re-spiked my hair and dressed in something a little more casual than my school uniform. Something deep down made me not want to go on this date tonight, but I couldn't place exactly what. I grabbed some money from my school pants pocket and my phone and left my dorm. I was determined to have a good time on this date, no matter how else I felt. I was with Riku, that was it.

I walked into the chilly night air and pulled my jacket tighter to me. I really hoped this dinner was worth it. I had been putting all of my efforts towards this relationship… Anyways, as I was walking, I had time to think about everything that had happened recently. Meeting with Roxas, talking to him, giving him that hug… I still have no idea if that was actually a good idea or not, but it happened all the same. I wonder what he thought of that…

A wind blows through and chills me to the bone. It would have been smarter of me to wear a heavier jacket. I can feel my hair trying to blow everywhere, though I distinctly gelled it just for an occasion like this. I really hate it when my hair gets in my face, because it's so long. So, if you've ever wondered why it's so spiky, there you go.

With all these thoughts running through my head, I had barely realized that I had already arrived at the restaurant. It wasn't really that far from campus, so I shouldn't have expected anything different. Its name was the Dark City Café. Come to think of it, it acted more as a coffee shop than a café. I went in and grabbed a coffee; after I received my mocha latté, I looked around to try and find Riku. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, almost as if there was a dark aura I walked into.

Suddenly, I spotted Riku. He was wearing the same thing he had been wearing to school earlier; that was odd of him. Usually he changed for our dates, just as I did. That ticked me off first thing that something was wrong. I was worried as I walked over and sat across from him at the small café table.

"Hey Riku!" I said as cheerily as I possibly could.

"Hey," he said, with a cold, sharp tone. I knew something was wrong.

"Riku, something's been up with you today. What is it?" I knew I asked this as soon as the words rolled out of my mouth, and the look on Riku's face determined this. A look of fury rolled over him, then settled into his eyes. I knew this was going to be bad from the start.

"Sora, what has been going on with _you_? Why are you so worried about me all the time? It's like we're dating or something!" Riku started raising his voice.

What was that? 'It's like we're dating or something?' What was that supposed to mean?

"Riku… I…" I had no idea what to say. His words… did he really mean them?

"No Sora. I can't continue this. You're freaking me out. Whatever you thought we were is now over. I can't take you trying to be around me constantly. It's annoying."

I couldn't comprehend exactly what Riku was trying to tell me. He… he… I could feel the tears running down my face. They burned my eyes as I tried to keep them open. I could still see the cold, impassive look on Riku's face as he watched me cry. I stood up and ran from the café, taking my coffee with me. How could he do such a thing to me? I had done nothing but try and be faithful in this relationship and he cuts me down.

I run and run and run until I get back to my dorm room. There are still tears streaming down my face as I slumped down onto my bed. I couldn't believe this; he just tore me apart, and in front of all those people! Why would he do such a thing?

I threw my head into my pillow and sobbed. He hates me... he really hates me...

Suddenly, I hear my door creak open (due to the fact that even though I have everything a college kid could ask for in a dorm, they still hadn't oiled my door hinges), and I risk looking up, even though I had puffy cheeks and red eyes from crying the entire way home.

"Hey Sora, I just wanted to say th-" I heard Roxas's voice and saw his face, though it was blurred through the tears. Him being there just made me want to cry harder. Of all the times he decided to walk in, it just had to be now. Why? Why now, Roxas? He stopped in the middle of his sentence and just stood there and looked at me for a moment. It was as if he couldn't believe his eyes. Only when I let a sob escape from my lips did he come over and sit on the bed, his hand resting on my back.

"Sora, what in the world is wrong?" he asked, the worry apparent in his voice. I look up and, though blurred, I can see how the worry lines on his face make him look even more adorable. I am immediately soothed for just a moment, but then I go back to feeling awful for what Riku said to me earlier. I buried my face into the pillow farther, telling Roxas that I don't want to talk to him about it.

"Sora, if you don't tell me, I'm going to be forced to tickle you to death." I look up at him, confused for a moment as to what he meant. Then, suddenly, he attacked me under the arms and on my sides, forcing me to laugh uncontrollably and writhe until I forced him to stop by yelling, "Alright, Alright, I'll tell you!" He stopped and waited for me to continue. I had to take a breath for a moment, then I found the courage to talk about it.

"Riku... Riku really hurt me today." I could feel the sadness threatening to come back up. I stopped it there by saying, "And I'd really like to not talk about it right now."

Roxas raised my face so I was looking into his eyes. My heart skipped a beat and I had to tell myself to calm down just so I could breathe. He wiped the tears from my cheek and smiled at me. He rested his forehead against mine. He was staring at me; like really staring into my soul. Oh God, his smell is so intoxicating. It's like I could get drunk off of him. I can feel my face getting redder and redder when he's close to me. The ruffling of his clothes on top of me, the way his eyes just bore down into me...

"Sora," he said in a soft voice, "you should never let anyone tell you you're anything less than perfect. You're gorgeous and beautiful in every way. Don't forget that." My heart skipped faster and faster and faster until I realized his lips were getting closer and closer to mine. I slid my eyes shut slowly and felt his lips touch mine. It's like my entire body was on fire. I felt the hormones rushing through me like a typical teenager. I wanted to get closer to him, wanted to feel his body up against mine. But I knew I had to stop at some point for air. Damn my anatomy!

I pulled apart from him and let out a breath. He opened his eyes slowly and smiled. I could feel my face flush redder. He giggled and went to rest his head in between my arm and shoulder; however I pulled him back and kissed him deeper. If this was what I wanted, it was very apparent. My heart was beating faster as I wrapped my hands around his waist while he put both of his on both of my cheeks. He pulled me deeper into the kiss, as if suddenly figuring out that this was what he wanted too. And I was happy. I could have exploded with giddiness; fortunately I didn't, because that would've really ruined the moment, wouldn't it?

We kissed for a little while longer, and trust me, I felt way better than I did with Riku. I felt like I could trust Roxas, even though I had only talked to him for a little while. After our... moment, we laid there on my bed for a while, Roxas huddled into my shoulder. We enjoyed the silence for a while, then a thought crossed my mind in all the chaos of what I was sure was love in my mind. Maybe I should ask him to stay the night? I don't really think I'm all that emotionally stable as of right now; it might a good idea. He just... I can't describe what he did to me. Still, it felt like I should have someone to keep me sane with all these new emotions, and who better than the only person I want to be with anyways?

"Hey," I started, breaking the blissful silence for a moment.

"Yeah?" he asked, lazily, beautifully, adorably.

"Do you... do you think you could, I don't know, stay the night with me tonight?" There was a bit of silence after my question when I could tell Roxas was thinking about it. He looked up at me with those bright shining eyes and replied, "I'd really like that."

I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. It felt like a weight was removed off my shoulders and I could breathe again. We enjoyed a bit more silence when I felt something moving next to me. "Hey, Roxas, I think your phone is going off." Roxas got this pained look on his face as if there was something happening that he didn't want to happen. I hated it when his face looked like that. "What's wrong?"

"It's... it's nothing," he said while he looked at his phone. He threw it back down onto the floor and snuggled back up into me. I gave him the look that said, "Really, what's going on?" He caught my look and said, "Really, it's nothing, I swear!" I left it alone after that. I mean, I don't want him to change his mind about staying tonight. I wrapped my arm tighter around him and dozed off. Pretty soon, I saw a bright light with Roxas standing in front of it. I could tell I was dreaming, due to the fact that I was floating in midair. The only thing Roxas was wearing was a sheet placed conveniently around his waist and crotch, so I couldn't see anything. I could see his chest, though, and it was perfectly sculpted. His face was slightly red for some reason or another, and that made me blush a little bit. He came over to me and caressed my face with his hand. He smiled and looked me in the eyes. I moved to kiss him, but he pulled away slightly and whispered, "Beware of the jealous, Sora."

I woke up with a start when I heard my alarm clock going off. Shit! I forgot yesterday was Sunday! Roxas had already gotten up and started to shower. I went into the bathroom, not particularly caring that Roxas was showering, washed my face, and ran back out to throw on some fresh clothes. We were so late to class; how was I going to explain myself?

I threw on a clean pair of my uniform pants and quickly buttoned up a clean white shirt. I could get away with no tie as long as I didn't cause enough trouble with the teachers. They always seemed to catch your uniform mishaps while they were yelling at you for something else you did wrong. I knew that from experience.

Something crossed my mind while I was worrying about everything else that I had done. I went back into the bathroom and yelled in to Roxas, "Hey, who was texting you last night?"


	4. Just an update

Sorry guys, no new chapter this week, but I'm working on it, I swear! Things have gotten kind of hectic lately… anyways, I'm glad you take the time out of your day to read my fics and I'll get a chapter up sometime this week. So, for those of you who haven't figured it out, yes, there will be two chapters up this coming week. Thanks! :D


	5. Chapter 4 Part One

Roxas

I stopped lathering for a moment. How would Sora react if he knew it was Axel? Would he get mad? Sad? I had a mini flashback to the night before. I still had no idea where I got the courage to kiss Sora, nor did I know what was running through my mind. All I knew was that I was letting my body do what it wanted, and it felt really, really good. When we were lying together, I felt this wave of terror rush over me as Axel popped into my mind. What would he do when he found out? Would it end up like it always had? Me going through hell for him? As I thought about it more, I realized that I would go through hell to stay with Sora, and do so willingly.

"Hey Roxas, I think your phone's going off," Sora said. I could feel his voice rumbling in his chest, and I felt as if I couldn't feel any more closer to him. I knew it would be Axel, however, because he had done this before. Whenever I was anywhere except with him, he would text me constantly, asking where I was and who I was with. He had always done that; at first I thought it was cute, I thought he cared about me enough to worry where I was and if I was alright. Turns out, he was just angry and needed someone to "talk to." Most of the time it was more taking out his anger than actually talking. You see, Axel had a really bad life before he came to this school. When we actually got along somewhat, he told me that when he was 7, his dad left him and his mom. At 11, a man broke into the little dingy apartment they lived in and proceeded to rape and murder his mother right in front of his eyes. Ever since, Axel's been in anger management classes. I used to feel really bad for him, but when a person constantly hits you for something that isn't your fault, you start to lose that pity and lose it pretty quickly. Once, I confronted Axel about how he shouldn't beat me, and he beat me harder the next day. After that day, things went downhill. I never looked at him the same way again.

I must not have been able to conceal the pained look on my face, because Sora asked me, "What's wrong?"

"It's... it's nothing," I said, trying to hide the look I must've had on my face. I didn't want Sora to worry about me. He shouldn't have to go through what I had to go through back then. However, I don't think he believed me, because he gave me a look that said, "Really, what's going on?"

I replied, "Really, it's nothing, I swear!" I suppose I shouldn't have been that aggressive with it, because he got a look on his face that told me he wouldn't ask if I didn't want to talk about it. He wrapped his arm tighter around my shoulder, and soon I could hear his breathing even out, telling me that he was asleep. I picked up my phone after I was sure he was asleep and looked at it. *10 new messages* blinked up at me when I hit the OK button.

"Gees," I mumbled to myself, as I checked and, surely enough, they were all from Axel. "Hey, what's up?" "Where are you?" "What's going on, why won't you answer?" "What have you been doing?"

I sighed a little bit, and thought up a reply. "Sorry, I've been with my mom. She needed me. I'll talk to you later." Sure, I kind of felt bad for lying, but I felt it was necessary. If he knew anything about Sora, he would be his next target, and I couldn't do that to him. Not when we're this early in... what? A relationship? A friendship? I didn't know exactly what this was, but I didn't want to ruin it.

With that thought, I snapped back to the present. I poked my head out of the shower curtain and asked, "Hey, can you hand me a towel?"

Sora's face flushed a little and it made me smile. He stammered, "Uhm, uh, yeah, sure." He grabbed a towel from the rack and gave it to me, his eyes avoiding my face while I took it. He made me grin while I toweled off. I wrapped the towel around my waist and stepped out. He turned when he heard the curtain open and looked at me. His face flushed bright red and his eyes went wide open. "Wow... you look... wow," he breathed.

"It was Axel, texting me constantly last night," I said. He snapped out of his reverie and looked at me, surprised. Then, a hint of anger set into his look.

"Do I need to take care of him?" he asked me very seriously. I laughed. "No, Sora, I think I'll be alright." I threw on my clothes from last night. For some reason, Sora looked rushed. I paused for a moment, then asked, "Sora, where do you have to be so quickly?"

He looked at me, bewildered. Am I missing something? He asked me, "What do you mean? It's Monday, we're late for class!" I actually laughed aloud at this. Sometimes Sora could be so scatter-brained.

"Dummy, it's Saturday. Yesterday was Friday, don't you remember?" He paused in his rushedness for a moment and looked at me. It was as if he had been hit with something, because his face got looser. "Oh yeah..." he trailed off. I laughed at him, but in a friendly joking way. I started to take off the towel I was wearing so I could get dressed; I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, though. I looked over and Sora's face had gotten red and he was hurrying out of the bathroom into his main bedroom. I smiled and grabbed my clean clothes out of the cupboard I put them in so they wouldn't get wet while I was showering. I got dressed and thought about Sora. He really was amazing, and better than Axel in a lot of ways. He treated me like I was worth something, not like I was just some sort of human punching bag. He was adorable in every way and didn't act stuck up like other people (especially girls) that tried to talk to me. See, for some reason, girls tried to flirt with me. A lot. It had always confused me when I was younger why I hadn't liked it when they did so. After about freshman year, I figured out I didn't like girls, and that was that.

Sora had gone around his dorm doing meaningless tasks while I was getting dressed. I went out of the bathroom and sat at his desk, half attempting to re-do my hair, half looking at Sora move around and do things to try and hide the blush that I could tell was creeping up on to his face. He was so adorable, it made me smile. I went over to where he was attempting to make is bed and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, pulling him into a hug. He stopped for a minute, then relaxed into me. He put his hands on top of mine and I put my head in the crook of his neck.

"I had a really nice time last night," I told him. He rested his cheek on the top of my head and replied, "I did too."

I unravel myself from him and go over to the desk to finish doing my hair. He goes over with me and watches me. Normally, I would feel odd, but just knowing that it's Sora makes me feel comfortable. After I finish doing my hair, I turn around and look at Sora. He looks clean-cut and well washed; probably due to the fact that he thought it was Monday this morning. He always had made an impression on me when he looked like that; professional in his clean-cut uniform. It was probably due to the huge amount of money his parents had. They could afford the special stuff at this school, like the big dorm and the fancy clothes. I got here with a scholarship, and I'm lucky to have done that. Apparently I was exceptional with my artwork and my writings; they wanted me to come to their school. Previously, I hadn't really gone to school. We hadn't been able to afford it. What with mom's drug addiction, she didn't have any money to pay for my schooling. I was the only source of income since dad died, and most of what I made was either given to or stolen by my mom. My dad had been my only source of sanity in the house. After his death, our school contacted me and told me they had seen some of my writings; when they told me they wanted to have me enroll in their school, I was excited. I could turn into someone worth being. I didn't want to turn into my mom.

After I finished, I stood up, preparing to leave. I grabbed my school bag, which was carelessly thrown on the floor due to the... frenzy of the other day, and went to give Sora a goodbye hug. Instead, he met me over at the door. He met my gaze and smiled. He took my face into the palm of his hand and I could feel my face heat up a bit. He got closer and closer until his face was less than an inch away from mine. "Thank you," he whispered. His lips captured mine and his hand caressed my face. I leaned into him a little bit and wrapped my arms around his waist. This just felt so... right. It was indescribably amazing to have Sora here by my side (and attached to my face.)

He pulled apart and my face flushed immediately. I had never really had this much attention put on me before, or at least good attention. It was odd to me to have someone actually appreciate that I was here every day. He saw that I was blushing and wrapped his arms around my waist, embracing me. I put mine around his neck and squeezed. I knew I was going to have to deal with Axel when I got back to my less fancy dorm, but as long as I was here with Sora, no one could do anything to get to me.

I pulled apart from him and we said our goodbyes. I hated having to leave Sora's side, but I knew it would have to happen at some point. Plus, I had homework to do. As I was walking back to my dorm room, I couldn't help but think about what Axel was going to do. I had no idea how he would respond when he found out, because I knew eventually that he would. All I knew was it wouldn't be good. Never really being a calm person, Axel was dangerous. I just hoped he wouldn't do anything too out of hand.

I got to my building and opened the door. Ours was the dorm for more literary gifted students. You see, when the school contacted me about my artwork, they found that my writing was much more accelerated than my ability to draw, so they gave me a scholarship based on that. I hadn't really thought about my writing as being too particularly good, but apparently it was. So much that they wanted me to raise their school's reputation for its writing. So, I was enrolled in the most advanced English classes and left to myself. Fortunately enough for both myself and the people who gave me the scholarship, I enjoyed my classes a lot, and stuck with it. Ever since, I've been getting really good grades and enjoying myself while doing so.

When I walked in, the main room really wasn't much. There were a couple of old-fashioned sitting chairs around a fire place. For the more modern students, however, there's a long couch and a couple of comfy chairs around a television. As my English teacher said, "Everyone is inspired by something different, darlings. You just need to start looking for yours!" I found that my inspiration was more of me sitting in my dorm room and waiting for an idea to come to me.

Nevertheless, I just went past the main lobby into the hallway and down to my room. I was lucky enough to get a room by myself through the scholarship, and I was grateful for that. It wasn't really all that much, but at least it was something. I got to my door and pushed it open. It wasn't nearly as nice as Sora's, but it gave me a place to sleep by myself. In the far corner was a small single mattress bed with some plain sheets and a pillow. There was also a table with a lamp and the remnants of what was once a laptop. You see, when Axel gets mad, he has a nasty habit of going and breaking my stuff instead of his own. One night, he was particularly mad and came storming into my room. I begged him to break something that was less expensive this time, but he wouldn't listen to me. I also used to have an alarm clock, but that went out the window. Sometimes living on the bottom floor has benefits, due to the fact I was able to recover what was left of it later.

I threw my bag on the floor and flopped onto my bed. Today has been a lot more than I had been used to handling. I ran my hand through my hair and thought a little bit more about Sora. He really was a wonderful and amazing person. It was a shame he had to deal with Riku, though. A person like him shouldn't have to do what he had to do.

I heard a noise at my door, kind of like someone trying to get it. Who could it be? I hadn't told Sora where my room was, so… oh no.

Axel burst into the room with an angry expression on his face. I sighed inwardly. I figured I would have to deal with this eventually. "Where have you been?" he screamed. I winced when he did so. He didn't have to be that mean.

"I was out doing some stuff, and it was late. I went to go sleep in the auditorium," I lied. I knew I would pay for lying eventually, but right now, it was better not to get Sora involved in this. If I could put off the confrontation, I would. I knew how mad Sora could get; I had seen him get into a fight with another student once. It was amazing to me how anyone could get so angry at another person that they would want to hurt them. Then again, I had always been that kind of person.

"You're the most worthless person I've ever met. When I need you, you're never around. I don't even know why I hang around you anyways," Axel said with a disgusted tone in his voice. I perked up at that. I was useless? Really now? Was he calling me useless when I was there for him to hit repeatedly? I don't think so.

I kept my face stony and still. Responding to him would only make him angrier, and things would get worse. If he was going to find out, I had better not make things worse than they already were. He whipped around, noticing my silence. "Aren't you going to answer me?"

I paused for a moment more. I needed to decide what exactly to say so that I didn't get killed off tonight, quite literally. After the moment passed, I said, "No. I know that whatever I say is going to be wrong, so why should I bother responding?" I could see the anger in Axel's eyes multiply by about 5. He lunged towards me, and it was as if everything was moving in slow motion. I could feel the first blow of his fist coming in contact with my right temple, but I didn't really feel the pain until a few seconds after it actually happened. My head was being slammed against the headboard and he was pinning me to the bed. He was hitting me everywhere, but whatever I felt of it wasn't really much. Anymore, I just waited for it to be over. It took about 10 minutes altogether for Axel to finish taking his anger out on me. He was breathing heavily, and I was bleeding out of places I didn't even know I could bleed out of. The hatred in his eyes had lessened some, but it was still very present. When I opened my eyes, his eyes were boring into me, and it wasn't very pleasant.

"You will never be good enough, you know that?" he spat in my face. He got up off of me and walked over towards the door. I sat up and looked at him, just in time to catch him look back, make a scoffing noise, and walk out the door. He slammed it behind him. Good riddance, I think to myself. Then, the last line he said hit me. You will never be good enough, you know that? That was probably what hurt me the most. I started to cry, but I realized I couldn't. My left eye had swollen shut, and the tears just wouldn't come out. It made my eye burn, so I tried to calm myself down. I laid on my bed and did a breathing exercise I did every time we fought like this. Breathing slowly, in and out, helped me keep from losing it. I closed my eyes and rolled over onto my right side, so my eye wouldn't touch the sheets. I stretched my arm on the bed; I felt around, looking for Sora's presence.

Sora.

What was he going to think about what happened? I knew I was going to have to tell him that this happened. But what would he think? Oh Lord... how was I going to get through this?

Almost as an afterthought, I decided that after I calmed down a little bit more, I would go talk to Demyx. He always calmed me down and helped me talk through things, even when I didn't want to. I was grateful for what he did, believe me. I could go to him and tell him anything, and he never turned me away. But I would need to wait until I had calmed down a bit to go see him. Plus, I wanted to make sure Axel was gone. Once, I had tried to get out of my room a few minutes after he had left, and it turned out he was still outside, for some reason or another. I got it pretty badly that day. But it didn't really matter. I didn't want to get into that now. I needed to check out the damage that Axel caused.

I went out of my room with a towel over my face, trying to conceal it. Our dormitory wasn't cool and fancy enough to allow us to have private bathrooms, so we had shared ones. Thankfully, ours wasn't too far away from my room, so I could generally get there without doing too much walking. That really helped right now, because I didn't particularly want anyone seeing what I could feel was my swelling eye. I walked quickly down the hallway and got into the bathroom. I had enough insight to bring my only washcloth with me, and it was a good thing too. I saw the purple and blue lump that was supposed to be my eye and felt a drop in my stomach. I sighed and ran the washcloth under some cold water, then laid it on my eye. It was very soothing, and helped slow down the swelling. I sat on the edge of the sink and thought for a while. About everything that had gone down today; about Sora and Axel, Demyx and Zexion, a lot of other things. What's happened in the past couple of days? I had no idea what I felt anymore. All I knew was that I felt like I could get to the top of the world with Sora, and I never wanted that feeling to go away. He made me feel like I was worth something; I felt like I was nervous whenever he was around. It was just... I couldn't explain it.

After a while, I took the cloth off of my eye, and I saw that the swelling had gone down drastically. I'd had to do this many times before, so I guess you could say I knew what I was doing. I just had to keep the cloth on for a few more minutes, and then put a little bit of the medication that was in my drawer on my swollen eye, and it would be fine. I held the cloth on tightly while I hurried back to my room, trying not to let anyone see me. I was lucky enough to not be noticed. I shut the door behind me and went to my bedroom side table to get the tube for my eye. I got the medication from Demyx, who was the only person who really cared about me enough to get me anything for it. I hadn't ever actually told him, but he suspected it. Demyx knew what kind of person Axel was, and how angry he could get. I suspect it's because Zexion has him in class, and he talks to Demyx all the time; Axel would have had to come up at some point. He snaps so easily, especially in art. I assume it's because of me, but you never know, I guess.

I dab a bit of it on, and then put on my coat. If Demyx already suspects it, he shouldn't be too shocked by a discolored eye. Despite how he acted during school, he was actually a smart guy. He can tell when something's going on, even when I don't know myself. That's why he was such a good friend. I walked down the hallway, trying to keep my head down. After all, some people are annoying and try to stick their nose into your business when it's not needed. I walk briskly out the door and over to the other side of the campus. That's where the science geek's dorms were. See, Demyx was hugely science accelerated. I have no idea why, though; it's just in that one subject, but nothing else. I'll never understand that boy.

It's brisk outside, which I suppose is normal for the time of the year. I wrapped my coat around me and shivered. I felt sort of numb, kinda of like when you go to a family member's funeral, but haven't really accepted the fact that they're gone yet. The calm before the storm. I knew that, being a teenager, I was going to feel all sorts of emotions my raging hormones caused, but for now, I couldn't really feel anything except the chilly air around me. It really was a picturesque sort of scene, with the colored leaves falling all around and the wind blowing through my hair. A perfect fall scene in the perfect school area.

I arrived at Demyx's building, luckily not having been bothered. It was in a bit better condition than our English dorms, but nothing like Sora's. I walked in the glass front doors and kept my sights trained on the staircase in front of me. If one had taken the time to look around the main lobby, you could see that it was a beautiful place. All the walls were made of glass, but there were reinforcements outside to make sure the building didn't shatter completely. There was a large model of a gene strand from the ceiling. It was a rather large place, and was altogether quite nice. However, I had been in here so many times to see Demyx that I didn't even notice it anymore. I headed up the stairs to the third floor. Demyx enjoyed being up there, because he had friends up there that he could talk to about science and stuff.

I got up the third floor and went to the middle of the hallway, over to Demyx's room. He had a roommate, who I really hoped wasn't home. I knocked on the door and waited. After a moment, Demyx came to the door with a white lab coat on and some lab goggles. He looked busy with something and must've not really noticed the fact that it was actually me, because he started out his greeting with, "I really need to get back to working on this lab, so-" He looked over at me and a grin spread across his face. "Hey Roxas!" he said cheerfully and waved me in.

I went into the room and took off my coat; I threw it on the table and flopped down onto the couch. I laid my head back against the back of the couch and shut my eyes. I relaxed for a moment, but only then Demyx realized the whole topic as to why I went there in the first place. "Roxas, what happened to your eye?"

I sighed and explained the entire story. He's so easy to talk to, I can't really help myself. After my tongue is dry from talking about Axel and Sora and everything that happened, I stop to look at his expression. It's a thoughtful one; no matter how he acted in public, Demyx really was a smart person. He just didn't like to flaunt it. He preferred people being friends with his goofier side. I met the educated side of him before I met his goofy side, and there was a very noticeable difference in the two. I really liked the intellectual side, though, because it helped me solve the problems I couldn't deal with on my own.

"Well, it sounds like you should tell someone about what Axel has been doing to you," he said finally. I must've gotten an exasperated look of sorts on my face, because he continued with, "You know someone's going to find out eventually, and it'll probably be Sora. You don't want to do that to him, do you?"

It was true, I didn't. He didn't deserve to go through stuff like this, just for me anyways. Well, Demyx made a good point. "I guess that's true enough. I just don't want to get beat up more than I already am. You have to understand that."

"I do," he replied. "But it's never going to get any better until you do something about what's going on now."

That made me sit quietly for a moment. I knew that everything Demyx was telling me was true. I suppose I just didn't want to accept what had to happen in order to make things right again. I just... I knew I needed to do this by myself, but I needed some support, and not from Demyx. I needed to talk to Sora about this.

"Thanks Demyx. I appreciate the help. But I think you and I both know who I have to talk to about this," I said with an exasperated sigh. Demyx gave me a half smile and said, "I'm glad you realize that's what you have to do. I wish you the best of luck."

"Thanks," I say with a small smile myself, and then pick up my coat and head over to his door.

"Roxas?" his voice makes me stop for a second.

"Yes?"

"Just remember; you don't have to be strong to find strength."

"Thanks," I say, and then turn to walk out the door. What did he mean by that? Not being strong to find strength? It sounded almost like a spiritual quote of some sort. Demyx always did say stuff like that; meant to confuse you, make you think. People would never think he could say something like that if they just knew his bubbly bouncy side. I walked back down the stairs out towards the auditorium building, preparing to go to Sora's dorm. I needed to discuss this with him, tell him what happened. He was going to find out anyways, and I would rather he know it from me. After all, if I knew him as well as I thought I did, he wouldn't do anything too irrational if I told him not to.

I got over to the area where Sora's dorm was and started rethinking my idea. Maybe it wasn't a very good one? I wasn't really sure of anything I did anymore. Then again, my first ideas were usually the best ones. I never did good things when I over thought, so I decided to just keep going. Besides, Sora was the kind of guy who would do anything if he was up for it.

I got to the front door of his dorm and opened it. He was sitting at his desk doing something, probably watching videos. He always talked about them when he was in art, and I would always listen. I was always that kind of person, I guess.

When he saw me, he smiled and went over to hug me. Feeling spontaneous, I went over to him and captured his lips in a kiss. I still don't have any idea as to how I got all this courage, but I liked it. As he pulled apart, he was grinning. "Well, what brought that on?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, really."

"Well, those are the kinds of kisses I like the most," he said and pulled me into a hug. Just the feeling of him wrapped around made me feel safe and secure. That was when I knew I made the right decision by wanting to tell him. I pulled apart from him and said, "Sora, there's something I need to talk to you about."

He got a look of confusion and concern on his look as he said, "Alright, what is it?"

I took a deep breath and spilled the entire story. From the beginning of Axel's and my relationship all the way up to what happened today. I explained that was why my eye was discolored.

"I thought I noticed something weird about you when you walked in, but I couldn't place it exactly," he said, half to himself.


	6. Chapter 4 Part Two

As I walk down the stone path that winds through the campus to get to Sora, I see Xion coming down the path. Xion is an interesting character, I must say. With her black boots, faded skinny jeans, and baggy black jacket, you would think she wouldn't really be the social type of person. Surprisingly, I've seen her talking to a lot of people. Whether they were social or forced conversations, I will never know. I have talked to her before, though. She really helped me talk about Axel and other personal sorts of things. The last conversation I had with her had to be towards the end of last year. Wow, it's been a while...

I wave hello to Xion and walk over to her. She seems immersed in the book she's carrying. I catch a glimpse of the title and smile. Twilight. Xion's been talking to Zexion again. He could get anyone into that series, I think to myself. I say, "Hey, Xion!" and she snaps up from her book, momentarily frightened. She smiles when she sees it's me and waves.

"Hey Roxas, what's up? It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it sure has been." It crosses my mind that Xion helped me with Axel and my problems back then, so why shouldn't I ask her for help now? I decide to give it a shot.

"Hey, Xion?"

"Yeah?" she replies.

. "I've got a bit of a problem. It's-"

"Let me guess," she cut me off. "Axel again?"

I look at her, rather stunned. Has she really remembered everything from then? "Uh, yeah. How'd you know?"

She gives me a look. "Let's just say I have a pretty good memory. So what's up?"

I explain the story to her, and how I'm headed to go see Sora right now and tell him about it. Then, a notion pops into my head. What if Xion tells someone about Sora and I? I could never do that to Sora. I would have to have Xion promise not to tell anyone about what we've talked about. Before I could do anything, however, she cut off my train of thought.

"Well, it sounds like you should break it off with Axel. That would be the healthiest thing to do, for the both of you. Unless you want to keep getting beaten into oblivion. The choice is yours."

I smile and say, "Thanks, I'm sure I'll make the right choice. But you have to promise me that you're not going to tell anyone else about Sora and me, okay? I really need to keep this a secret for the time being."

"Roxas, I've never told anyone else about anything we've ever talked about. What would make me do so now?" She smiles.

I breathe a sigh of relief. It feels kind of nice to trust another person. "Thanks, I really appreciate that."

"Hey don't mention it," she says, and walks away. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Xion really is a nice girl. I'm glad to be able to have a friend like her. I keep walking to Sora's dorm, thinking about him all the while. I get over to the area where his dorm was and start rethinking my idea. Maybe it isn't a very good one? I'm not really sure of anything I do anymore. Then again, my first ideas are usually the best ones. I never do good things when I over think, so I decide to just keep going. Besides, Sora's the kind of guy who would do anything if he was up for it.

I get to the front door of his dorm, and pause. I hear what sounds like crying through the door. I start to worry and open it. Sora is lying face down on his bed, shaking. I can't see his face, but it ss evident that he is crying. I walk over to him and lay a hand on his back.

"Sora?" I ask quietly. He sits up slowly and looks at me. His eyes are puffy and red. It is hard for him to catch his breath, and he is shaking even worse than I had thought. I pull him into a hug and he starts to break down again. We stay like that for about ten minutes, me trying to calm Sora down, and Sora sobbing into my shirt.

After he calms down a little bit, I asks, "Sora, what's wrong?"

"It's… I-It's Riku," he gets out after a few seconds of sniffling. This angers me a little bit. Why is Sora still getting crap from Riku? He is the one who flipped out on Sora in the first place. Riku has been an ass to Sora, frankly, and I'm tired of his crap. It isn't surprising when my tone sounds forced as I ask Sora, "What about Riku?"

He must hear how hard I'm trying to be calm for him, because he says, "He didn't do anything to me, at least not physically. He... he's been tormenting me, though. We have just about every class together, and he does lit- little things. L... like he'll sneer a-at me and I c-can hear him m-make jokes be-hind my b-back." Sora starts to cry again, his words catching in his throat. I wrap him tighter into a hug and let him get all of his teenager emotion out.

After he is done crying, I kiss his forehead and say, "You know I'm not going to let this go down without a fight, right?"

"I know," he says with a half-smile.

He lifts his head and captures my lips with his. I smile, which causes him to do the same. I think I hear something off to the side of Sora's bed, but I don't think anything of it. Suddenly, the door swings open, and I snap my head around. There is Riku, standing in the doorway with an angry expression on his face and fire in his eyes. His eyes seem like they are staring at something that isn't there, something that's off in the distance. He then seemed like he snapped back into reality, and his eyes land on me. The fire died immediately, and there are tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"Sora... how could you?" he chokes out. The only thing that's running through my head is, really? What the hell? You're the one that left him, why are you running back to him? I get angrier and angrier by the second. The only reason this guy is coming back to Sora is because he realizes how wonderful of a person he is. I stand up from Sora's bed, preparing to fight this guy. I had never really talked to him, but if he was willing to do this, I would beat him into oblivion.

Fortunately enough for him, he runs before I can get my hands on him. Unfortunately, Sora gets up from the bed and runs after him. Oh Lord, I think, when would that boy learn?

"Sora!" I yell after him. I think about chasing him, but decide against it. I sit on the bed and hold my head in my hands. When is he ever going to learn?


	7. Chapter 5

Sora

I have no idea what I am thinking when I run after Riku; all I know is that I'm going off of instinct, which isn't good. Nevertheless, I keep running. Damn me and my teenager confusion! I figure Riku would run to his dorm, so I go there immediately. Riku is going to our school because of his art skills too. He is in the same area as me, except his dorm isn't as fancy, due to lack of money.

I go over to the building that houses the coed dorms and run in the door. The place smells like Clorox and teenage sweat. It isn't really the best set of dorms in the school, but it also isn't the worst. It could have a few upgrades, though. There's a couch in front of a fireplace that's pretty well worn in front of you when you walk in. I hate to think about the things that happened on that couch, some of them between me and Riku. I don't have time to think about that now, though.

I rush down into the hallway and down the stairs to Riku's room. The way it works with the art dorms is the lower down you got, the less money you had. It's kind of mean to say, but it's the truth. Riku? He lives on the utmost bottom floor. I actually have to go down about 3 flights of stairs to get to the very bottom, and have no idea as to why I keep going with this.

I get to his room and bust open the door. I'm right about my assumption, because he's sitting on the edge of his bed, looking like he's about to murder someone. I get scared; I've never seen Riku that angry before. I take a chance and sit down next to him.

"Sora…" he trails off. He looks as if he's about to cry, but it never happens. He just sits, enveloped in his anger, on his bed, in a dazed sort of state.

"What is it Riku?" I ask softly. I feel scared out of my wits, like I'm going to get punched in the face. Kind of like Roxas with Axel, I think immediately. Oddly, the thought doesn't make me feel shameful, as it should. It sort of comforts me, to know that Roxas is going through a bit of the same thing as me. I shake it from my head, because I hear Riku speaking.

"—love you," he ends, quietly, but forcefully.

"What? I didn't catch that," I say as kindly as I can.

"Sora," he says angrily. "I don't love you."

The depth of what he says hits me after about 30 seconds of sitting there, looking dumbfounded. He doesn't… he… I can't even comprehend what he's trying to tell me. Doesn't love me? After everything we've been through together?

I stand and walk out of the room quietly and calmly. I feel that if I show emotion, I'll be taunted even more than I am now. Through all of the crap that Riku has put me through, I realize one thing that day: I don't love Riku either. I really don't. If I love someone, they're not going to put me through something I don't want to go through, which is exactly what Riku did. I have Roxas. I love Roxas with all my heart, and this is the moment when I realize that.

I walk out of the art dorms, knowing that I won't ever go into any of those rooms again. My head is up high, and I'm proud of myself. I knew previously that this was going to happen eventually. I just didn't know it would be today. Nevertheless, I make my way back to my dorm, with a sort of grin on my face. I feel a bit like a madman, but I don't care anymore. I'm rid of Riku, and that's all that matters to me anymore.

Going back to my room, I have a lot of time to think about what all has happened. Oddly enough, however, the only thing going through my head is Roxas, and wondering if he's okay. When I glanced down at my watch walking out of the art dorms, I noticed that it had been an entire hour since I had left him. I start to worry about him, and if he's alright. After all, Axel does know where my dorm is. It wouldn't take much to…

I walk a little bit faster down the path. It takes about 15 minutes to get back altogether. When I can see my room in the distance, I pick up my pace even more. I hope he's alright. I shouldn't have run off like that. It's stupid of me to think like this, but still… I bust in the door and see Roxas shaking and sitting on my bed. My worst fears are confirmed when I see a little puddle of blood on the floor. I can bet it's not mine, and it's not Axel's.

I rush over to Roxas and tilt his face up so I can see it. He has a nosebleed, and there are other bruises on his face. I suddenly get furious. Axel has absolutely no right to break into my room and beat Roxas. In fact, that's breaking and entering! I have a right mind to go find him and beat him to see how he likes it, but Roxas must know what I'm thinking. He grabs my wrist and utters, "Wait…"

I stop immediately and lean in next to him. "Yeah?" I whisper, trying not to say something wrong. I mean, after all, he just beaten after I did something stupid I shouldn't have done. It's not exactly a good thing to mess something up here.

"Axel…" he trails off, not being able to finish what he's trying to say. My temper flares up more.

"What? What about Axel?" I force out of clenched teeth. I want to be calm for him, but it's difficult, let me tell you.

"I… I tried to break up with him," he says. It sounds almost as if he's scared that Axel will hear him, so he's talking quietly. Nevertheless, I smiled a little bit. I'm glad that he at least tried to break up with Axel. It means that he doesn't want to be with him anymore… of course, I could have gotten that from everything that's happened recently, but you can never be too sure.

"And?" I ask tentatively. I still have that little nagging voice in the back of my head to not screw any of this up.

Roxas sort of laughed a little and says, "He wouldn't let me."

"What do you mean he wouldn't let you?" I ask. I'm genuinely confused. How can he not let him? That doesn't make sense.

"Well, he ended up doing this," Roxas says, motioning to all the cuts and bruises all over himself. "And, he screamed, and I quote, 'I will never let you go, do you understand me?'"

I stare at him for a moment, dumbfounded again. How in the world can you have that tight of a grip on someone? Can't he just let go of Roxas? It would help me, I thought to myself. I then think of Riku. I think of the way he practically yelled at me that he didn't love me. I think of how that phrase didn't faze me in the slightest when I heard it. I then think, maybe Axel can't accept the fact that Roxas has moved on from him.

I sit down next to Roxas and pull him into a hug. I don't say anything; just think about everything that's happened in this short amount of time. He lays his head against my chest, and we just sit like that for a while. I can feel Roxas shaking and crying, his tears running from his face and onto my shirt.

I lift his face from my shirt and look him in the eyes. They're puffy and red, and I can see fright deep down in him. He's honestly scared about what's going to happen next. I smile and pull him into a kiss.

When we pull away, he asks, "What was that all about?"

"Roxas," I say, "I love you with all my heart. I want to be with you as long as I live. I don't want anything to change that. I want you. Every part of you. Nothing will change that."

He blushes. "What do you mean by every part of me?"

I smile and pull him into another kiss. I think to myself, "You know what I mean."

He sits up taller and pulls me farther into the kiss. He surprises me when he takes me by the shirt and throws me on my back on the bed. It must've shown because he pulls apart and smiles.

"Sora, I've thought about this for a long time. Just because I look innocent doesn't mean I am," he tells me with a smirk playing on his lips. I almost laugh, but he cuts me off short with another kiss. I wrap my arms around his waist, pulling him in closer to me. His tongue is in my mouth, probing and tasting like it's his first time kissing me. I smile and put my tongue in his mouth. It tastes amazing, like mint and sweetness, for lack of better description.

He entwines his fingers in my hair and pulls me in even deeper. I can feel him getting harder with each passing second, and I blush. I feel myself getting harder too, and get even redder. I let my hands wander down to his ass, feeling and squeezing. I can feel him moan into my mouth, and I get a little bit harder. Roxas is the first person who does this to me, and the only.

He pulls me up into a sitting position, so that he's in my lap, straddling my crotch. He moves his hands down to the bottom of my shirt and pulls it up and over my head. I do the same, but keep my hands on his chest. His arms are now around my waist, and somehow we have managed to keep connected at the lips, mostly.

I play with his nipples, flicking and twisting. He is moaning into my mouth, and the vibrations are getting me harder and harder as time passes. He moves his hips back and forth, rubbing his erection against mine. I moan, the first time I've ever done so. He brings his hands around the front of my pants and messes with the button. I pull away from his kiss so he can see what he's doing.

He gets off of my lap and waits, obviously waiting for me to take off my pants. I stand up from the bed, where I notice our shirts are thrown carelessly on the floor. A small smile plays on my lips as I get my pants off as quickly as possible.

After they're off, I stand with a hand on my almost bare hip, waiting.

"What?" Roxas asks, after a few minutes of staring.

"Wow," I saw to myself, smiling. I stand him up and take off his pants for him.

"Oh," he mutters, but I can tell that's not exactly the first thing on his mind right now. I get down on my knees and remove the pants from around his ankles. I look up at him and he looks down at me, and I suddenly know what I have to do.

"While we're at it," I breathe, "let's take these off, too." I hook my fingers into the waistband of his underwear and pull them down to his knees. I couldn't help but stop and stare. Roxas is… big. Like, inhumanly big. I glance up at him, and his cock twitches.

"Please, I can't stand it anymore," he breathes. I don't object. I pull the underwear completely off and feel myself throbbing. I take hold of his pulsating member and stroke him up and down. He trembles and tenses up a little bit. I put my other hand on his hip and push him a little bit so he's sitting on the edge of the bed.

I situate my head in between his legs and take hold of him with one hand.

"Wh-what are you doing?" he asks.

"Just wait, it'll feel good, I swear," I tell him, looking him in the eye and winking.

I take his entire throbbing member into my mouth and he gasps. His fingers go into my hair, winding tightly and pushing down hard. I can feel his pubic hair tickling my nose, and I somehow get harder than I already was. I pull back and push forward again, tasting every amazing inch of him.

I moan into him, and he gasps even louder. He pulls me off of him and I stand up. I pull him into a kiss and push him backwards so I'm lying on top of him. He flips me over so I'm on my back. He slides off the bed and down onto his knees. I look down at him and our eyes lock. He has a small smile on his lips.

He suddenly takes me in his mouth, and I gasp. His warmth was more pleasurable than I could have ever imagined. I grip the sheets around me and moan loudly. I can feel the corners of his mouth turning up in a smile. He starts to move faster. I almost fall backwards onto the sheets when he reaches up and finds one of my nipples. He flicks and twists, teasing me. I bite my bottom lip and start to breathe more heavily.

He keeps doing that until I just can't take anymore. I pull him up to me and kiss him deeply. I reach into my bedside table and pull out a bottle of lube. I squirt a little on my finger and look up to Roxas.

"This'll be cold," I tell him, just as a precaution.

"Do it," he breathes. He's as close as I am, so I don't say anything more. I slide my hand down onto his ass, and then my finger slowly into his entrance. He gasps at first, and I can feel him clenching against me. After a second, though, he loosens up and I push farther. He pulls me into a deep kiss, and I push my finger all the way in. I start moving it back and forth and he breaks apart, moaning loudly.

I pull out my finger and slowly push in two. He gasps and moves backwards so I push them in farther. I move them in and out, faster and faster.

"Sora," he gasps. "I'm ready."

I oblige by flipping him around onto his hands and knees on the bed. I get up on my knees behind him and grab hold of my cock. I line myself up at his entrance and slowly push into him. He and I moan simultaneously as the head of my cock slides into him. I keep pushing and pushing and pushing until my pelvis is resting against his ass. I collapse onto his back and whisper into his ear, "How's that?"

He finds my hand, puts it on his own cock, and says, "For God's sake Sora, move."

I obey and move slowly out of him and back into him. He's so tight around me, it's indescribable. I move my hand up and down his length and moans. I can feel my instinct kick in and I start to move faster and faster and faster. He starts to thrust into my hand, wanting more.

I know I'm not going to be able to hold on for very much longer. I push myself up and grab hold of his hips, thrusting harder with each passing second. Roxas grabs hold of his own cock and continues where I left off.

"Sora…" he trails off. "Sora, it feels so good…"

Just hearing his voice moaning my name is enough to push me over the edge. No, I think to myself. Hold out just a little bit longer. I thrust hard into Roxas and he moans the loudest yet.

"Sora," he says louder. "Sora, I'm gonna—"

Roxas yells loudly, and jerks back into me. I move one of my hands down to his cock and can feel his salty warmth covering the sheets. My sheets. The sheets on my bed. Roxas has just come all over my sheets.

Knowing that I have made Roxas come makes me moan his name and release. I can feel my hot sticky warmth coursing through Roxas's insides. We both collapse onto each other onto the bed. After about a minute, I get up off of him, him getting up with me.

"I need a shower," he says, looking down at himself. He's covered in a mixture of his come and a bit of mine. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and pull him into a deep kiss. He wraps his arms around my waist and leaves them there. After we separate, I ask him,

"Can I join you?" He smirks.

"Sure," he replies. We walk over to my attached shower. After about ten minutes, we're all dried off and frankly, both of us are tired. I pull back the newly changed sheets and motion for him to get under the covers. He does so and scoots over for me. I climb in after him and snuggle up to him.

After a minute, Roxas says, "Hey Sora?"

"Yeah?" I reply.

"Did you really mean what you said?"

"What do you mean?"

"When…" he pauses. He then continues with, "When you said you loved and wanted me?"

I look up at him. His eyes are… indescribable. They look as if they're filled with hope and longing. Hope for something that will never happen and longing for someone who will never be there. I realize that he's never felt truly wanted before. My heart aches for Roxas. I respond,

"Always and forever."

He smiles and nestles down into my chest. I wrap my arm around him. We stay like that until we fall asleep. I couldn't have had better dreams.


	8. Chapter 6

As my eyes flutter open, I can see sunlight streaming through the window. I feel someone around me, and know immediately that it's Sora. I think of what happened last night and feel a grin spread across my face. I can't describe how happy and content I feel right now. I snuggle in closer to Sora and shut my eyes again. It was amazing just to be here with him, and to have been able to share what we did last night.

All of a sudden, something hits me.

"What day is it?" I say aloud.

"Hmmfff…" Sora mutters as he rouses from his slumber. He stretches and pulls me closer in to his chest. He takes a deep breath and lets it out, sounding content. "Good morning beautiful," he says with happiness in his voice. I blush a little, but repeat my question.

"What day is it?"

The air stills as Sora is thinking about the chronology of the days of the week. The atmosphere of the room seems to drop the happy content tone when we both realize the same thing at the same time.

"It's Monday," he says softly. We both jump out of the bed and start getting dressed frantically. I pick up my clothes off of the floor and brush the wrinkles out of them. It'll have to work for the time being. I guess I should've thought about bringing an extra set of clothes over here, but I didn't think I would need them.

We both get dressed in a matter of minutes and go to fix our hair. We both look into the mirror at the same time and smile at each other. I squirt a little bit of gel in my palm and pause for a second. I blush fiercely, remembering last night again. Sora sees me blushing and says, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I mutter, and continue putting the gel in my hair. We both gather our school stuff in a hurry and attempt to go out the door at the same time. We bump into each other and spill our stuff everywhere. Simultaneously, we bend down to gather everything up again. I glance up and see Sora staring at me. I blush and look back down at the ground. It's weird to have this much attention from another person. It's weird, but… I like it.

We stand up, books in hand, and attempt to leave. We try to get through the door at the same time, which obviously doesn't work. I turn and face him. I'm about to say something witty when I see those eyes. Those deep blue eyes… they just cut deep into me and stayed there.

All of a sudden, Sora grabs hold of the tie that is mandatory for our school uniforms and kisses me, full-fledged, tongue and everything. I'm a little bit surprised, but after a few moments, I lean into him and deepen the kiss. After about a minute, we pull apart, gasping for breath.

I smile and straighten my tie. He giggles and after I get myself adjusted, he grabs hold of my hand and intertwines his fingers in mine. It just couldn't feel more perfect, standing there with Sora holding my hand. I reach for the doorknob and turn it. We walk out together, our first time as an actual couple. The sun kind of hurts my eyes, but by this point, I don't really care. I'm just glad to be able to be with Sora and be next to him.

We walk along, hand in hand, catching some looks from other students walking to class. I am grinning from ear to ear, too happy to notice or care what other people think. The entire time we're walking I am very aware of his fingers intertwined with mine, and a slight blush creeps onto my face and stays there. I just can't believe that I'm this lucky of a guy.

All of a sudden, I catch a flash of bright pink up ahead of us. I roll my eyes, knowing that it's going to be Larxene. Although pink isn't really her color, she wears it every once in a while, just to make people notice her. I saw two bobbing heads on either side of her as well. I could only assume that they were Kairi and Namine. Every popular girl needs a couple of cronies by her side, right?

As they got closer, I look over at Sora and give him the look that says, 'What should we do?' He returns it with, 'Just keep walking. We shouldn't have to do anything different.' I shrug my shoulders and drop it. If Sora doesn't think we need to do anything, why should I be concerned?

As they get closer and closer, my nerves start to get to me. I know I shouldn't be worried, but this is this first time I've actually been open with a relationship. I guess I'm just worried about what people are going to say.

Larxene catches a glimpse of us and does a double-glimpse. A wicked grin spreads across her face and she picks up her pace. I sneak a glimpse at Sora, and see he isn't showing any emotion. It's probably a good idea, so I wipe my face clear of emotion as well.

She walks up to us and looks us over. I clench Sora's hand tighter, afraid of what's going to happen.

"Well well well… look what we have here," she says in that mocking tone that every mean person uses. Sora doesn't say anything in response to her, so I keep my mouth shut as well. Larxene looks at us with a confused look, as we haven't responded to her yet. Despite our silence, she just grins again and says,

"What's the matter? _Gay _got your tongue?"

I feel Sora's hand tighten around mine. I can tell he's trying really hard not to say anything to her, and a smile plays on my lips. Larxene is so ridiculous with her insults, most of the time, they don't even make sense. We both stay silent nevertheless. She waits for one of us to respond, and when we don't, she just rolls her eyes.

"Whatever. I have to go," Larxene says, an undertone of embarrassment in her voice. My eyes land on Kairi and Namine at her sides. They both give me an apologetic smile. I give them a small smile back and look over at Sora. Anger is creeping into his eyes, but he manages to keep his face emotionless.

Larxene walks away and Kairi and Namine follow her. As they go, I look back at the two girls and can see them whispering excitedly to each other and giggling. I smile a little bit. They really should stop following Larxene around all the time. They seem nice enough…

We continue walking through the campus until we get over to the area where the English building is. Sora talks incessantly about Larxene the entire way over there, obviously still angry about it. When we finally arrive at our destination, he seems to have calmed down a bit. I can't help but smile when I look over at him. He's just so adorable when he's mad!

"What're you grinning for?" he asks me teasingly.

"Oh, nothing," I respond, a smile still playing on my lips. I look into his eyes and see that they're back to the normal jovial and playful shine that's always been there. I pause and take in the sight for a moment, and then lean in to kiss him. It's just a small peck on the lips, but it's still a kiss all the same.

He leans into it for a moment, and then pulls away the same time I do. A small smile plays on his lips and he winks at me. I giggle and he says,

"See you tonight, sexy." I laugh out loud at that and walk into the English building. It's an ancient one, but has been kept in magnificent shape. The inside almost reminds you of a gothic style church, but without any alters or crosses. The ceilings are twenty feet up at least, and there are columns spread along the hallways at even intervals. The main entrance is a room of about forty by forty feet, a giant square. It really is a beautiful sight, although the English department is special for one reason: it doesn't have a set of dormitories, at least not connected to the building. It would have been a danger to student's safety to do so, so the living area is located in a newer building behind the educational area.

I head straight through the middle of the giant square area to the T-shape that branches into three different hallways at the back. I take the left path and head down a flight of crumbling stairs. I got to the bottom and headed to the end of that hallway. I push open the door at the end on the right of the hallway. This is my advanced creative writing class. It just also happens to be led by my favorite teacher in the world, Marluxia. Marluxia used to be on Broadway, in a musical. I can't remember what it was called off of the top of my head, but he was one of the lead rolls. Whenever I would talk to him about it, he would say, "I never would have left it, but then… _it _happened."

The 'it' he talks about all the time is his accident. Apparently, he was up on a ledge, saying a monologue or something, and fell over the edge, hitting his head on the stage pretty badly. He had to stop his acting career permanently because of it. Marluxia always claims that it was his nemesis, but I highly doubt that. I love Marluxia because he's really easy to talk to, and he gives great advice.

Anyways, I walk into the classroom and the other students are all sitting in small groups, talking to each other. I look over at Marluxia and put on a confused look. He lowers his designer shades and looks at me with a look that says, 'Come here and I'll explain everything.' I oblige and take a seat next to him at his desk.

"What's going on Marly?" I ask him. We've always been close enough to call each other by first name.

"Nothing much darling. Just been looking at People magazine and envying the lives of the actors in it."

I give him a look and say, "You know you shouldn't think like that."

He sighs and rolls his eyes. "I know, but I really miss it Roxy."

I smile at him and lean back in the spinning chair that he keeps next to his desk just for me. I shut my eyes and sigh. I spin around a couple of times, trying to clear my mind. He must be able to tell that I have something on my mind because Marluxia asks, "What's wrong Roxy?"

"I've just been having some problems lately."

"With what, pray tell?"

I pause for a moment, thinking over his offer to talk. I decide that he's been there for me enough before that I should trust him. I explain the whole story of Axel and Sora, but leave the beatings out. I still don't feel comfortable with telling other people that. I also leave out Sora's and my little… escapade last night. I'm sure Marly knows enough about that that I don't have to tell him anything.

"Well, it sounds to me like you know exactly what you're doing," Marly says to me.

"What do you mean?" I ask him, confused.

"Well, you stood up for yourselves from Larxene, not to mention Axel too. You also found the love of your life, Sora. Seems to me like you've got everything under control." I smile and blush a little bit.

"I guess I hadn't thought about it like that." Marly turns to me and looks me in the eyes, suddenly very serious.

"Listen to me, Roxas. I was once in the situation you're in right now. When I was in the theatre, there was a man I was... involved with. We'll leave it at that. He wasn't really the type of person you wanted to find outside of his acting career. For some reason, I fell for him. I think it was because of his body. He had such a nice ass..." Marly trails off, looking dreamily into the distance.

"Uh, Marluxia?" I say quietly, looking up at him with a confused look on my face.

"Wha-? Oh, right, the story!" he snaps back to reality. "It didn't end well. From that moment forward, I realized something. Never date a guy because of his looks. It never turns out well. It may not sound very realistic, but try to stay in a relationship only if you're in love with the person." He grabs my shoulders and turns me so he can look me directly in the eyes.

"Listen to me Roxas. I believe that you're in love with Sora, and I think he's in love with you. Don't ignore that. A lot of people would love to be in the position you're in right now. Take advantage of it." I can tell he is serious about this, and I am appreciative of his advice.

"Thank you," I tell him. Marly lets a small smile spread across his face.

"You're welcome. But don't forget what I've said!" I am about to respond when the bell rings.

"Now go, you're going to be late to class," he says with a smile on his face. I wink at him and he lets a giggle pass his lips. I pick up my books and leave the classroom, heading down the hallway and back up the stairs to exit the building. I am heading towards the gym, unfortunately. I've never really been a physical type of guy, and my gym class is full of the guys who cover up the fact that their penises are small with working out and playing every sport imaginable. I've never really felt that I've needed to compensate for my penis, so the issue never came up. However, taking a "physical education" class is required in our curriculum, thus my schedule. I sigh at our stupid rules and enter the gym/auditorium.

There are already some guys and a couple of (rather manly) girls heading towards the locker rooms to change. I set my stuff down on the bleachers and head over there as well. As long as I could avoid eye contact with any of them, I didn't have to be made fun of. Ever since I first started this class, I had always been made fun of. I have a small frame (unlike the 'jocks'), which I got teased for. When it got old, it toned down a little, but there was always someone making some sort of rude comment. I've never liked the class, and I probably never will.

I walk through the door and head to my gym locker. I grab my clothes and, amidst the "Fagboy" comments, get dressed. I pull on my beaten up Converse, as usual, and get out of there as quickly as possible. I get out into the gym itself and see red rubber balls lining the middle of the floor and roll my eyes. Dodgeball has got to be one of the few sports I literally despise. A lot of things like football and basketball I can just ignore, due to the fact that the players usually stay to themselves. In forced physical activity, it's just that: forced on you. You have to do it, whether you like it or not.

I lean up against the wall and cross my arms, waiting for the disaster to begin. Usually our gym teacher, Xigbar, puts us into two teams and lets us do whatever we want. Now, Xigbar was one of the more... how can I say this?... colorful teachers here. And by colorful I mean creepy. I swear, I can tell he watches us through his office, which is conveniently attached to the boy's locker room. He's got to be the oldest person at this school, which is what makes it so creepy.

I try to push the thought out of my head and pull myself back to reality. I hear a whistle being blown and turn my head to the side. I see Xigbar, weird matching jumpsuit and all, signaling for us to start.

Of course, all the "serious jocks" run for the balls in the middle as quickly as they can. There are some people who mean well, but just can't do much of anything. Those are the people who get called out right away. Then there are people like me, who really don't want to be here. Some of them voluntarily move forward to get hit, while others lean up against the back wall and daze, like I am.

After a while, Sora and Axel pop into my head again. I wonder what Sora's doing right now. Probably something more entertaining than this, that I can guarantee. For some reason, just then, something hits me. I realize that a fight between Sora and Axel is inevitable. I won't be able to stop them. And then my mind switched to Axel. He disgusts me. I can't even remember what it was I saw in him. It's pretty sad when you feel the need to hurt others so you can feel better about yourself. I mean, I understand that he has problems, but that's just going over the top. Plus, I never really did anything to make him mad. After thinking about it, I realize that I never deserved any of what he gave me. I smirk and let a small laugh escape my lips.

All of a sudden, I feel something come in contact with my left cheek. Right afterwards, I feel the sting of rubber spreading through my cheek and into my forehead. I let a groan escape my lips as I fall, stunned, to the floor. There is a shadow towering over me, and I open my clenched eyes to see who has targeted me. I see dreadlocks and immediately know who it was. Xalden chuckles and bends down to my level.

"Did that hurt Roxy-poo?" he says mockingly.

"Shut up, Xaldy-Waldy," I say right back. It's the nickname Larxene gave him, and I know he hates it. Which is, of course, the only reason I use it. I can see a light blush pass across his face. He shakes it off, however, and stands back up.

"Don't mock me. I know all about you. And everything you do with Sora," he says, knowing that that will get to me. It kind of does, but at this point, I can't let anything bother me. He'll just use it against me. I stand up and brush myself free of the dirt that coats our gym floor. After that, I turn and look Xalden straight in the eye. He's a bulky kid, one of those people who work out constantly and do absolutely nothing else. His dreadlocks (a horrible hairstyle on him, I might add) are greasier than a Big Mac, and dirtier than our gym floors. He has a brutish sort of face and blunt features. Altogether, he's a bad looking person with a "bad" attitude.

"How would you of all people know?" I spit at him, disgusted with him almost as much as I am with Axel, who is surprisingly still in my head.

"Larxene told me. You're two disgusting people who don't belong in our school. You should just go kill yourselves now before this gets out of hand." A stupid grin spreads across his face, showing extremely yellow and crooked teeth. I also let a small smile spread over my lips.

"It's amazing how lame your insults are. Like that one hasn't been heard before. I don't care if people know. I love Sora. There, I said it. Happy?"

Xalden has a sort of amazed look on his face before fixing it back into a stupid ugly grin.

"Oh, I'm ecstatic."

I'm sort of confused as to what his intentions are now, but I won't be able to find out, because the bell rings right when I'm about to retort.

"See you later, Roxas," Xalden says with an evil grin.


	9. A Loving Message to my dedicated readers

So, I feel terrible for leaving you guys alone for so long. Things got crazy for a while, and they just haven't slowed down since. I did want to tell you some news, however.

I'm writing my own novel!

Yup, that's right, I'm getting into a completely original idea of mine, and it's pretty awesome, not going to lie. I also met someone rather special, and they've been keeping me busy. ;D

Another excuse that I swear I'm not making up is that I actually lost the ideas that I had written down for this story for about a year. I finally found them the other night and am writing again. Expect a new chapter up soon!

Oh, and expect some more editing of things and chapters and such.

I love all of you and hope you don't get mad at me and sell me on the Romanian slave trade!

Love,

MWIOQ


	10. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm so friggin proud of myself. You guys don't even know. This is a longer chapter, too! Enjoy this, and I'll continue writing. I haven't given up yet, I swear!**

Sora

There is an acidy smell coming from the beaker at the front of the room. The person standing behind it is Professor Vexen, our science professor. He is sporting a pair of goggles, and is intensely focused on trying to reverse the mistake he has made. I think it has something to do with the chemicals and how he mixed them, but I'm too busy thinking about whether or not I'm going to make it out of this classroom without exploding.

"Alright class, I um think that we should um vacate the, um, premises, before-"

At that moment, Vexen is cut off by a large explosion of lights and colorful smoke. We all immediately start talking about the possibilities of us making it out of the room alive.

"Now children! Just, um, settle down and we'll, um, get you all out of here safely." Of course, we don't listen to a word he says. There is now a rainbow of chemical residue floating around in the air, and about half of the class is holding their breath, afraid of what exactly they would be breathing in.

We all manage to get out of the room safely, and any passerby could have heard the collective gasp of the return of air to half of the class's lungs. As soon as the oxygen fills our lungs again, we start talking about what's going to happen to Vexen. This has already happened on four separate occasions, and our principal Xemnas had recently been teetering on the edge of firing Vexen.

As if he had read some of our minds, Xemnas suddenly shows up out of the blue. His facial expression is a mix of confusion, anger, and resentment. We never really know what Xemnas does on a regular basis, so we just tend to stay away from him.

"Professor Vexen, what in the world is going on here?!" Xemnas yells at the top of his lungs. The anger is so apparent in his voice that we all immediately stop talking. A few get the "deer in the headlights" look and back away slowly.

"Oh, um, Mr. Xemnas sir, I, um-"

"Enough! I want you in my office, now! As for the rest of you-"

At that moment, the bell rings to signal the next period.

"Get to class."

A few mumbles of, "Yes, sir," are uttered and the rest of us scurry off to our next class. I catch a glimpse backwards, and I can see Professor Vexen with a look of utter terror on his face walking alongside Mr. Xemnas. They are headed in the direction of his office.

I head towards the math room, which is just down the hallway and to the right. I can feel the eyes of tons of people staring at me while I'm walking through the hallway. I feel really awkward, but I attempt to ignore it. I try to convince myself that they're not actually staring at me, and that I'm just being paranoid. Somehow, I manage to accomplish this and walk into the math room.

I see our math professor Luxord sitting at his desk and grading papers. Not a lot of people really take the time to get to know him, but I've found out a lot about him lately. I find that he's really easy to talk to, and in turn talks to anyone who will listen. I found out that he used to be one of the best gamblers in the business. I would always ask him what happened, but he never wants to talk about it. He always tells me, "You'll understand when you're older."

At any rate, I find my seat and sit down. I simultaneously pull out my homework and open my book to the page that the assignment was on last night. After I do that, I sit in wait for the rest of the class. This is my entertainment of the day, because I get to hear bits and pieces of the conversations of other people as they walk in. Normally, I'll get an occasional, "That's what she said!" followed by a lot of laughing from some other people. Today, however, that's not the case. Whenever anyone walks in, they take one look at me and immediately start whispering to each other. This makes me feel really uncomfortable, but I attempt ignoring it again.

"What is it with everyone today?" I silently ask myself.

There is a couple that usually talks so everyone can hear walking in, and I tune in to what they have to say. However, they're already whispering to each other, and continue to do so. The girl suddenly looks down at her lap and pauses talking. I can tell that she's gotten a text from someone, but who could it be? She looks up and looks over at me. I immediately look over to some poster on that wall that I don't really care about. She looks over to her boyfriend and whispers something in his ear. He looks over at me too and gets a confused and rather disgusted look on his face. I have never liked him in the first place, but why does he look so disgusted?

After the agony that is math, the bell rings, and it's time for lunch. I run over to my dorm and grab my lunch. Afterwards, I head towards the gym/auditorium thing and find our secret room. I open up the door and find Roxas sitting and eating his lunch. I sit down next to him and take out my peanut butter and jelly. Roxas gives me an odd look that makes his eyes light up with laughter.

"What?" I ask him.

"You're one of the richest kids here. Why one of the most common sandwiches in the world?"

"Oh, so now I can't like PB&J?" I ask his teasingly.

He laughs and continues eating. I love it when he laughs. His whole face lights up, and somehow, the room seems to brighten. I love that he can make me feel this way. He probably doesn't even know it. Somehow, I get the feeling that we share an inner connection. It completely contradicts the sentence I just said, but I can feel deep down that we know exactly what the other is feeling. Somehow, in some way, this is meant to be.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Wha-?" I say, snapping out of my thinking and staring. He giggles and replies,

"Nothing, forget it."

I smile at him lovingly. We finish up our lunches and walk around the campus together for a little while. While we're drinking in the beautiful sights, the bell rings. I give Roxas a quick peck on the lips and head off to history.

Our history building would be one of the most wonderful things ever to someone who was actually interested in history. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people, so I just walk through the building without noticing any of it. It really is a beautiful place. There's columns and gorgeous brick architecture, all of it with historical value. I breeze by it as if it didn't even exist.

When walking in, you can see that the building is set up like the Museum of Natural History. The place is huge and roomy, with sculptures and towering animals everywhere. I don't even notice as I walk with tunnel vision towards my classroom.

Our history professor is Diz. No one really knows anything about him, and no one wants to find out. I think he's actually one of those teachers that tells the class his life story, but everyone is either asleep or tuning him out completely. Diz has got a voice that quite literally anyone would fall asleep to. It doesn't matter how much of a good student you are, it just immediately happens.

Anyways, the classroom fills up and by the time everyone is seated, the bell rings. Diz opens his mouth and before he even says the first word, you can hear light snores from about half of the classroom. I too begin to zone out. We don't mean him any disrespect, but we're kids. He's got to expect this.

As he drones on about some battle or another, I can feel my head slowly drooping lower and lower onto my desk. I am drifting farther and farther into dream land, and frankly, I don't want to stop myself.

My head hits the desk and I fall asleep. I feel a falling sensation, and I suddenly find myself standing in a café on the outside edge of town. I take in my surroundings and see exactly what I'm dreaming about today. I see Roxas sitting in a corner table, sipping on a coffee and reading the latest newspaper. A small smile plays on my lips. I'm about to go over and attempt talking to him when I hear the door being violently slammed open. I whip my head around and see none other than Axel, storming in through the door, a look of pure anger and disgust on his face. My stomach drops into my feet. What could he possibly be doing here?

Axel storms over to Roxas and slams his hands on the table, making Roxas's coffee shake. Roxas looks up, stunned and confused.

"Just who do you think you are?!" Axel screams in Roxas's face.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know what you've done. Now you're going to pay," Axel says maliciously.

"H-Hey! What're you doing?!" Roxas screams as Axel lifts him up in the air by the front of his t-shirt. Axel laughs evilly and spits in his face,

"What I should have done a long time ago."

I am, of course, sitting defenselessly in the corner, a terrified look on my face. I watch as Axel carries Roxas out of the café and onto the street. I run after to follow, and notice that oddly, none of the people walking on the streets seem to notice or care. I try to yell at the people to help me, but they just won't listen. I run after Axel, who is still carrying Roxas.

He carries him into an alleyway. I can feel all of the remaining color drain out of my face. I watch helplessly as Axel shoves Roxas up against a brick wall, slamming the back of his head in the process.

"Well, what do you think of me now?" he says.

"I… can't… breath," Roxas says as he struggles against Axel's hand, which is now gripped tightly around Roxas's throat.

"Good. Maybe I won't have to deal with your shit anymore if you stop altogether." As a kind of reassurance of his threat, Axel tightens his grip around Roxas's throat.

"Please…" Roxas manages to utter.

"Please what? Beat you until you're unconscious? Gladly," Axel says with an evil and possessed laugh.

I can see Roxas's eyes widen with terror as Axel pulls back to throw the first punch. I try to scream at him to stop, lunge at him, anything, but I can't move from where I'm standing. I start to silently cry as I watch the events unfold before my eyes. I am defenseless as Axel proceeds to beat Roxas over and over. The punches don't slow in the least, and Roxas is trying to fight back. Unfortunately, the more he is punched, the weaker and weaker his own punches become. Pretty soon, Roxas isn't even trying to fight back anymore; he is limp against the wall, Axel still whaling on him.

After about fifteen minutes of straight punches at Roxas's limp body, Axel lets go of his throat, making Roxas slide down the wall into a crumpled pile on the dirt.

"You disgust me, faggot boy," I hear Axel scoff. He looks at Roxas for a second and then walks away shaking his head. I am trying everything in my power to run to Roxas, to comfort him, to call for help, to so anything that might give him aid in any way possible. All I can hear, however, is a faint voice saying my name over and over again…

_Sora… Sora… Sora…_

"Sora!" My head snaps up and my eyes go wide open.

"Huh, wha?"

"Can you answer my question, Sora?" Diz asks, looking at him with a mildly annoyed face.

"Umm… the Battle of Gettysburg?" A few people laugh, and I know that I got the answer wrong. Diz sighs and shakes his head.

"Sora, you know what I told you the last time I caught you sleeping in my class. Now head over to the principal's office."

"But-"

"No buts. I told you, and I meant it. Get your things." I sigh and pick up my stuff. I can feel a little bit of heat rising in my face. I walk out of the room as quickly as I can, trying not to think about all of the attention on me. I don't really have anything else to do except wander around the campus for a while. I walk along the sidewalks and go in and out of shops, thinking over the dream that I had. I can't believe that I would even think something like that could happen. But… could it?

I decide to go back to my room, thinking that maybe I could sleep on my thoughts. I don't realize just how tired I am and manage to sleep from the end of the school day until around ten o'clock the next morning. I would have woken up later, had I not been aroused by Siax.

"SORA!" he yells in my ear.

"Mmmmph... what?" I grumble, irritated from being awoken from one of the only peaceful things in my life.

"Xemnas wants to see you in his office. Something about a call from Diz and you not showing up when you were supposed to... figures," Siax says, the last word grumbled under his breath.

"Fine, fine, I'm coming," I say, and rip myself out of my bed. I pull on a pair of pants and shirt that I grab off of my floor and walk out the door. I don't exactly have time to fix my hair, so I run my fingers through it as I walk to meet my doom. Contrary to what one might think, my punishment is nowhere in my thoughts. The only thing I can think about is if Roxas is alright or not. I didn't meet him after our classes yesterday, which makes me feel terrible. I shouldn't have left him alone with the persistent threat of Axel on his case.

I am startled by the fact that I almost run face-first into a door. I had been so lost in thought that I hadn't noticed the long walk from my dorm to the principal's office.

Now, the office isn't exactly a mansion, but it's no shack. Xemnas has a building all to himself, so he's able to spread himself out quite a bit. The opening is a ranch sort of style. It's just a normal white door. Thinking about it now, it's really misleading. Once you walk inside, the mood changes entirely. The waiting room is spread out, with chairs to your left and a large TV screen to your right, displaying the announcements of the week. I take a seat in one of the chairs and begin my wait. There's one other kid in the waiting room with me, but I've never seen him before in my life.

Rather than try to figure out if he even goes to this school, I think about the dream I had in history. I mean, it's not like this isn't probable, it has happened before, but I don't want one hair on Roxas's head to be hurt. Axel is just such an asshole; I don't even know how to deal with this. I don't want to fight him, because then I'll get in more trouble than I already am. I also need to deal with my teenage rage somehow.

Fortunately, I don't have to deal with this for much longer as Xemnas walks out into the waiting room and summons me inside. I stand to face what's coming to me. In hindsight, I really shouldn't be worried in the first place, as falling asleep in class doesn't really account for much.

I take a seat in Xemnas's office, which is quite roomy, for a principal's office. It's classy, as it should be, with paintings hanging on the walls and nice little paperweights and other trinkets on the mahogany desk. Xemnas takes a seat in his high backed leather chair and sets his chin in his folded hands. I sit across from him and try not to look too guilty.

"So, Sora. What have we done this time?" Xemnas asks tiredly, as though this is the last thing he wants to be doing.

"I fell asleep in history," I reply with as even a tone as I can muster. Xemnas gives me a look of disbelief.

"That's it? And he sent you here?" I can't help but smile.

"Yup, that's it."

Xemnas sighs. "Well, I suppose I should punish you, considering that it's not right to fall asleep in class. After all, you are supposed to be learning." Xemnas eyes me for a minute. I grin sheepishly at him and a smile spreads over his face.

"Well, how about I have a Saturday detention for you? Gotta punish you somehow."

"Alright, let me know the date when you can," I respond, feeling like a weight has been lifted off of my chest. I stand up and he replies with,

"Can do, Sora."

As I walk out of his office, I bump into Siax. He's muttering something about teenage delinquents and not having severe enough punishments. I just walk right by him and pretend not to hear a word he says. Hey, it works for me. The kid I've never seen before is still sitting in the corner of the waiting room and looks like he's talking to himself, so I just casually get out of there as fast as I possibly can. When I open the door, what other wonderful, shining face could greet me than that of Roxas?

"Hey," he says with a smile. "How'd it go?"

"Let's just say Xemnas was understanding about the whole thing," I say. No use in saying that Xemnas didn't really want to deal with teenagers. Roxas looks confused for a moment, and then just shrugs it off.

"So hey," he says, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to a movie this afternoon?"

"Yeah, sounds cool," I reply. "Which one?"

"I wanted to go see the Devil Inside, if that's alright." I've heard of the movie, and I'm curious as to just how scary it is.

"Challenge accepted," I mutter with narrowed eyes. Roxas just laughs at me and we head to my dorm to change and get ready.

Soon we are on our way to the movie theater, all ready to receive a good scare. Once we arrive, we buy the bucket of popcorn and find our seats. Of course, since it's a scary movie, about a fourth of the way through it, Roxas is cuddled into my shoulder, trying to talk himself out of being scared.

"It's just a movie... it's just a movie..." I can hear him mutter into me. I smile a little bit, but since I'm scared myself, I can't laugh too much. I do find relief, however, in the fact that my phone has just gone off, telling me that I've gotten a text message. I look down at the LED screen and see Demyx's name pop up with the little message icon. I feel dread sink into me immediately.

However, as I read two small words after opening the message.

'Everyone knows.'


End file.
